Below is the link to the analysis of 13 Ways of Looking at a BlackBird by Wallace Stevens.
Hope you all enjoy. __Click Here__
13 Ways of Look at a BlackBird
By: Wallace Stevens.
I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.
III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.
IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.
VII
O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?
VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.
IX
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
X
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
XI
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.
XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat In the cedar-limbs.
Title
The poem will be split into 13 different main points. The Blackbird is symbolic for omens, fortune, fear and the unknown. The poem will have something to do with those qualities of the Blackbird
Paraphrase
The blackbird is personified in each stanza as a certain type of life feature, ex: luck, weakness, freedom, purity, intimacy, unknown, etc.
He is consistent in each part to remind humanity of the constant cycle that life grows through. It starts with the snow in the beginning and snow at the end, with the blackbird alone.
Connotation
“Snowy Mountains”- sets the appearance of solitude and harmony, only to be broken by the bird’s eye.
“Three minds”(2)- subconscious, conscious, creative
“Pantomime” (3)= play without words
Man+Woman+Blackbird=1=Man+Woman.(4) Blackbird’s present does not exist. Bonds of intimacy.
“Inflection” (5) quick changes.
“Innuendoes”-desires
“Whistling of blackbird”-eerie and abrupt.
Haddam-in Connecticut. (7)
“Golden Bird”- all of one’s desires, is what the men of Haddam want but are left with blackbirds, which are their women.
“Indecipherable”(6)-illegible, the birds motives, like life.
“Barbaric”- Makes crudely rick glass
“I know noble accents, but I know the black bird is involved”(8)- noble is not noble. Personal gain is always wanted
“Flew out of sight and marked the edge of many circles”(9)- life covers many horizons, which are circles
“Connecticut”- where it takes place
“glass coach”(11)- fragile, week
“fear pierced”- sign of weakness is the unknown
“Green Light” (10)- Heart Chakra
“bawls of euphony would cry sharply”- contrast. Euphony would be nice, cries are not pleasant.
“River is moving”(12)-right to flow. Paired up with right to fly “blackbird must be flying” so the life has the right to freedom.
“Afternoon”(13)- end of day, snow adds to end of life. “Cedar”-eternal. The blackbird sits on top of it, making it eternal as well
Attitude
It is written as each part is separate in its own entity but is united with the whole. The author likes the blackbird, since he makes it clear that it is everywhere. Not much paranoia as it would seem with the blackbird everywhere.
Shifts
Each shift is set by Roman Numerals of the next way to look at a blackbird on the list
13 Ways of looking at a Blackbird is related to 13 ways of looking at life. The bird represents each because that is how life can be seen as at time; it can be frightful and enjoyable all at once.
Hope you all enjoy.
__Click Here__
13 Ways of Look at a BlackBird
By: Wallace Stevens.
I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.
III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.
IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.
VII
O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?
VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.
IX
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
X
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
XI
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.
XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.
He is consistent in each part to remind humanity of the constant cycle that life grows through. It starts with the snow in the beginning and snow at the end, with the blackbird alone.
“Three minds”(2)- subconscious, conscious, creative
“Pantomime” (3)= play without words
Man+Woman+Blackbird=1=Man+Woman.(4) Blackbird’s present does not exist. Bonds of intimacy.
“Inflection” (5) quick changes.
“Innuendoes”-desires
“Whistling of blackbird”-eerie and abrupt.
Haddam-in Connecticut. (7)
“Golden Bird”- all of one’s desires, is what the men of Haddam want but are left with blackbirds, which are their women.
“Indecipherable”(6)-illegible, the birds motives, like life.
“Barbaric”- Makes crudely rick glass
“I know noble accents, but I know the black bird is involved”(8)- noble is not noble. Personal gain is always wanted
“Flew out of sight and marked the edge of many circles”(9)- life covers many horizons, which are circles
“Connecticut”- where it takes place
“glass coach”(11)- fragile, week
“fear pierced”- sign of weakness is the unknown
“Green Light” (10)- Heart Chakra
“bawls of euphony would cry sharply”- contrast. Euphony would be nice, cries are not pleasant.
“River is moving”(12)-right to flow. Paired up with right to fly “blackbird must be flying” so the life has the right to freedom.
“Afternoon”(13)- end of day, snow adds to end of life. “Cedar”-eternal. The blackbird sits on top of it, making it eternal as well